Date – Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Game Time – Puck drop 7:00 pm
Location – Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, Merritt B.C.
Broadcast – Q101 & BCHLTV
Penticton Vees – 36-7-0-2
Merritt Centennials – 3-36-2-1
The Merritt Centennials and Penticton Vees will renew festivities tonight for the penultimate time this season with Merritt still looking for their first win in the series.
The Merritt Centennials were looking to make it two in a row for the first time this season on Friday night in Penticton.
The Vees would control the early pressure in period number one, working an early powerplay and firing on at will. Jackson Baker making the spot start for the injured John Hicks would play well, turning aside a number of quality shots.
Penticton would strike first at the 13:23 mark with the Russian Import Adam Eisele scoring his 4th of the season. A few minutes later, Josh Nadeau would net his 34th of the season to extend the lead to 2-0.
Baker stopped 15/17 in the first.
The Nadeau brothers would strike again to start the middle stanza with Bradley finding Josh for his second of the night to make it 3-0.
The Cents would finally find a way past Carter Serhyenko at the 13:56 mark of the period. While killing a penalty, Ben Ward would strip the puck from Braden Doyle, he would go in all alone and beat the goalie glove side to cut the Vees lead to 2.
The Cents would finish the penalty kill and after 40 minutes trail 3-1.
Baker continued to show well stopping 35/38.
Exactly one minute into the third, Jackson Nieuwendyk would score his 8th of the year to extend the lead to 4-1.
The Cents would respond with an Ashton Taylor tip play in front. The comeback effort would be halted there with Luc Wilson adding one more for Penticton, making the final 5-2.
Baker was spectacular making 54 saves in a losing effort.
While Merritt hasn’t played since Friday night, the Vees played in Vernon, shutting out the Vipers 4-0 for their fourth win in a row. Josh Nadeau and Luc Wilson continue to lead the way with 61 and 60 points respectively.
Previous meetings;
The Cents and Vees have played five times this season with Penticton winning all five games. However, after three blowout losses of 8-0, 8-0 and 11-0, the Cents have been fighting harder and playing better against the division leaders. In February, the Cents kept it close with 5-2 and 5-3 finals.
Blue Paint Battle;
John Hicks has been playing well recently with back-to-back 50-plus save performances and is now 0-11-2 with a .895 SV% and a 5.22 GAA. Hicks was scratched last weekend after sustaining an injury in practice.
Jackson Baker is 0-7 with a .854 SV% and a 7.97 GAA after an outstanding performance last time out versus Penticton.
In Penticton, Kaeden Lane has picked up right where he left off after returning from injury. Lane is 27-2-1 with a .916 SV% and a 1.91 GAA.
Carter Serhyenko has been serving as the backup recently, posting a 4-2-1 record with a .865 SVAA% and a 3.09 GAA.
Special Teams Comparison;
Vees – PP 24.0% (4/18) PK 84.4% (2/18)
Cents – PP 11.2% (18/18) PK 68.1% (18/18)
By: Michael Reeve via Q101 Merritt
